Inking device for marking machines



June 1937- c. F. MILLER INKING DEVICE FOR MARKING MACHINES filed April 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 29, 1937. c. F. MILLER INKING DEVICE FOR MARKING MACHINES pril 13, 1.936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed A I Patented June 29, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INKJING DEVICE FOR MARKING MACHINES Application April 13, 1336, Serial No. 74,025

4 Claims.

My invention relates to that class of inking devices in which ink of relatively high fluidity is employed and the ink is applied to an absorbent inking pad from which it is applied to the type 5 of a laundry marking machine or other printing machine.

My object is to provide an inking device of simple, durable and inexpensive construction and in which the volume of ink applied to the absorbent 10 inking pad may be adjustably regulated to thereby. supply the desired quantity of ink evenly distributed throughout the pad, and to renew the supply at each operation of the printing machine, to thereby constantly keep the pad fully supplied 15 with fresh ink.

A further object is to provide means whereby the inking pad is, during each operation, brought into exact parallelism with the faces of the type so that all portions of the type are equally inked.

20 A further object is to provide an ink reservoir or container so constructed that it may be readily and easily refilled and the air in the reservoir permitted to escape during such refilling without permitting the ink to be forced out during such 5 refilling or during the ordinary movements of the reservoir. 7

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a part of a laundry marking machine having my improved inking device applied thereto, the dotted lines 30 show the inking device in its Withdrawn position.

Figure 2 shows an end elevation, with the filling tube in section, of my improved inking device, the dotted lines show the adjusted position of the device when moved to position parallel with the 35 type faces.

Figure 3 shows a top view of the ink reservoir, with the inking pad removed, and Figure 4 shows a sectional perspective view of the device.

Referring to the accompanying drawings I 4 have used the reference numeral ill to indicate a portion of a marking machine printing head containing type wheels II. This printing head is pivotally supported at I2 and during its cycle of operation the type wheels move downwardly 45 into contact with the stationary printing platen My improved inking device comprises a cast metal inking reservoir Hi having a filling tube l5 having an opening l5a, covered by a detach- 50 able cap [6. At the top of the reservoir are two upright ribs l'l, between which is placed an absorbent inking pad l8. In the central portion of the space between the ribs ll there is formed a slot l9 which extends into the interior of the reser- 55 voir. In this slot I have placed a presser plate 20 and between the presser plate and the adjacent side of the slot is an absorbent ink feeder 2i, having its lower edge extended into the ink reservoir and terminated at a point above the ink level which is indicated at 22 in Figure 4. For 5 adjusting the pressure of the plate 20 I have provided a series of adjusting screws 23 mounted in the wall of the reservoir and engaging the adjacent side of the plate 20. In the feeding pad 2i, I provided an air passageway shown at 24 in Figure 3, the function of which is as follows: When filling the ink reservoir it is very difficult to pour the ink in without having an outlet for the air thus forced out, and in use this ink reservoir is rapidly moved and tilted. I have found it impracticable to have an ordinary air vent even in the top of the reservoir. But, by having this Opening 24 formed in the ink feeder with its upper end at the bottom of the inking pad l8, any ink that is forced out of this opening 24 by the moving and tilting of the reservoir is absorbed in the pad l8 and therefore produces no harmful effect.

The reservoir is pivotally supported on a bar 25 by the screws 26. 26a indicates a coil spring having one end fixed to the body of the ink reser- 25 voir and extended under the reservoir and attached at 26b to the supporting bar 25. This spring has such tension to normally hold the reservoir against tilting movements relative to the bar 25 during the ordinary movement of the reservoir to and from inking position. When, however, the inking pad engages the type the reservoir may tilt slightly to position parallel with the face of the type. The dotted lines in Figure 2 show the position of the pad before tilting. And this supporting bar 25 has brackets 21 at its ends. Pivoted to the printing head 10 are two links 28 which extend downwardly as shown in Figure 1 and are pivoted to the front portion of said brackets 21. A pin 29 is fixed to the central portion of each of these links 28. Only one of the links 28 is shown in the drawings, a similar one is provided at the opposite end of the reservoir.

Fixed to the frame of the machine is a bracket 3|] and pivoted with this bracket is a lever 3|. This lever is extended forwardly and'is formed with a slot 32 at its forward end through which the pin 23 is extended. A link 33 is pivoted to the forward end of the lever 3| and extended downwardly as shown in Figure 1 and pivoted at its lower end to the adjacent bracket 21. The spring 34 is connected at one end to the printing head and at its other end to the forward portion H of the lever 3| to normally hold the forward end of the lever upwardly. When the printing head is being moved downwardly the pin 29 moves to the bottom of the slot 32, and when the end of the slot is reached, the forward end of the lever 5 3| is moved downwardly, and when the parts have reached the position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1, the ink reservoir has been moved to a position withdrawn inwardly from the platen i3 and tilted. Then as the printing head again moves upwardly the spring 36 will move the lever 3! upwardly until its rear end strikes the bracket 30 at the point 30a, and when this is done the upward movement of the forward end of the lever 3! is stopped by the pin 29 which continues to move upwardly through the slot 32.

In practical operation the ink reservoir may be easily filled in an ordinary manner and during this filling the air displaced by the ink may pass out through the passageway 24 into the pad 48.

And during the normal operation of the inking device when it is being rapidly moved and tilted the amount of ink which may pass out through this opening 24 into the pad I8 is not objectionable. In a machine of this character it is very 25 desirable that the supply of fresh ink to the inking pad is renewed at very frequent intervals and the amount of ink thus supplied must be very uniform, otherwise at times, the printed characters would be too light or be blurred. I have found in practice that, by having an absorbent feeder with its upper edge in contact with the inking pad and its lower edge spaced apart from the ink within the reservoir, then the ink feeder will not operate when the machine is idle and ink 5 will be supplied by this ink feeder only as it is splashed upon the ink feeder when the reservoir is tilted. Furthermore by providing an adjustable presser plate I can regulate the amount of ink absorbed through the ink feeder to the ink- 40 ing pad with such great accuracy that I have been able to obtain substantially uniform printing impressions through a long period of use.

I claim as my invention:

1. An inking device, comprising an ink reservoir having a slot in its upper surface, an absorbent ink feeder in said slot, an absorbent inking pad above and in contact with the ink feeder, a presser plate in said slot and in engagement with one side of the feeder and means for adjusting the pressure of the plateagainst'the feeder.

2. An inking device, comprising an ink reservoir having a slot in its upper surface, an absorbent ink feeder in said slot, an absorbent inking pad above and in contact with the ink feeder, a presser plate-in said slot and in engagement with one side of the feeder and means for adjusting the pressure of the plate against the feeder, said means comprising a series of screws seated in the reservoir wall and engaging the plate at spaced apart positions.

3. An inking device comprising an ink reservoir having a slot at its upper side and also having a reservoir filling opening, a cover for the opening, an absorbent ink feeder in said slot for conducting ink by capillary action from the interior of the reservoir to the top of the slot, an absorbent inking pad covering the upper surface of the slot and in contact with said absorbent ink feeder to supply ink to the inking pad by capillary action, said ink feeder being formed with an air vent opening extended from the interior of the reservoir to the inking pad.

4. An inking device for printing machines comprising an ink reservoir containing ink and hav ing a .slot at its top, an absorbent inking pad above said slot, an absorbent ink feeder in said slot having its upper edge in contact with the inking pad and its lower end projected into the ink reservoir to a point above the level of the ink, means for tilting the ink reservoir to bring the ink into contact with the ink feeder, a presser plate in engagement with one side of said absorbent feeder for forcing the feeder against a part of the reservoir, and means for adjusting the pressure of the plate against the feeder.

CHARLES F. MILLER. 

